Cannes in Bethel

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, November 29, 2007

Today through Sunday more than 35 films will be shown at the Bethel Cinema on Greenwood Avenue. Works by local and international filmmakers will be screened, everything from political documentaries, ("Honk for Peace") to gory dark comedies, ("Blood Car") to heartwarming dramas, ("Midnight Clear").

The budgets are small to non-existent on many of the works, but what these films lack in budget they make up for in passion and creativity.

Asked about the cost of his documentary, "Honk for Peace," director and Brookfield resident Corey Boutilier jokingly replied, "28 million, 2 hundred-thousand dollars." That's not actually what he spent, but it IS how much the politicians he covered spent on their campaigns.

"I had basically a tiny budget," said Carina Tautu of New Fairfield, who also has a film in the festival. Tautu said with the help of friends in the industry, who did everything from acting to loaning her a camera, what she got in the end was "priceless." Her short film, "Still Center," was shot in her native country, Romania. Inspired by a folklore and at times surreal, it's the story of a woman who discovers she's pregnant with triplets, and is trying to decide whether or not to have them.

Boutilier's film begins in New York City with the 2003 antiwar movement and culminates with the historic 2006 Connecticut Senate race between Joe Lieberman, Alan Schlesinger and Ned Lamont. The film gives a behind the scenes view of the campaigns as well as an inside tour of the antiwar movement. In addition to interviews with the three candidates, the film features interviews with The Dixie Chicks, Sen. John Kerry, Ed Koch, Ralph Nader, Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.) and Sen. Chris Dodd, among others.

This marks the festival's third year. It began in 2005 as the Bethel Film Festival but after the first year the executive director, Tom Carruthers, decided he wanted to broaden its scope and make it a statewide event. Last year's festival took place in October at 20 venues throughout Connecticut simultaneously. This year it's touring Connecticut towns for nine weekend festivals and more than a dozen midweek festivals. These events will culminate with a six-day and night festival May 20 - 25 in 2008. The location for the final weeklong event has not yet been decided, but Danbury is being considered.

"Honk for Peace" premiered as part of the festival's weekend in Greenwich in November, and will be showing again in Bethel.

As the events leading to the Iraq war unfolded, Boutilier had the feeling something truly historic was taking place. He thought "this is going to be something amazing to film."

Because Boutilier assured the candidates none of his footage would come out until after the election, he was allowed more access than other journalists and video crews. This helped him capture the candidates when they weren't making speeches or fielding questions from the press.

Although political in nature, Boutilier says his film does not espouse one political viewpoint or another and is instead an attempt to document a chapter in history and allow the events and people to speak for themselves. Rather than promoting a political viewpoint, he said the film is "about people voting and being involved."

Boutilier said Lamont and Schlesinger both liked the film and some of Lieberman's staff enjoyed it, though he had not heard for sure whether Lieberman himself had seen it.

In addition to works from area filmmakers there are also several international films. On Saturday night the Brazilian film "Meteoro" will be shown at 8 p.m. Directed by Diego de la Texera, it tells the story of a Brazilian construction crew working deep in the heart of the desert when a military coup in the capital leaves them abandoned in the middle of nowhere. The film's screening will be followed by a reception sponsored by Tribuna Connecticut, featuring Brazilian cuisine at The Bethel Cinema Cafe.

Carruthers hopes the festival will help Connecticut filmmakers take advantage of Connecticut's tax incentives for filmmaking, which are some of the best in the country, and have made filmmaking here a multimillion dollar industry.

For the filmmakers themselves, festivals are an opportunity for directors to "shop their film and get a deal for it," said Carruthers. While few of the works are likely to be picked up for theatrical release, many attract notice at festivals like this and the films get picked up by TV stations such as IFC, Sundance or Bravo.

The short film "West Bank Story" was shown at a past Connecticut festival and later went on to win the 2007 Oscar for live action short. Carruthers is certain there will be more success stories coming out of this year's events. "I'm sure that some of these movies are going to make it to television, if not to theaters," he said.

�"�

The Bethel portion of the Connecticut Film Festival opens today at 11:30 a.m. and runs through 10 p.m. Sunday. Tickets for matinees starting before 6 p.m. are $6.75; after 6 p.m. the fee is $9.50 for adults and $6.75 for children and seniors. Seating is limited and tickets can be purchased in advance by visiting the Bethel Cinema box office at 269 Greenwood Ave. in Bethel.